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[–] WinOneForTheQuipper 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

I don't listen to Dan, so I didn't get it there. You're right about the original origin, but over the years it has acquired the meaning 'to destroy'. This is how I've always understood the word to mean, and I'm oldl.

A quick goolag got me this blurb:

dec·i·mate

/ˈdesəˌmāt/

verb

1.

kill, destroy, or remove a large percentage or part of.

"the project would decimate the fragile wetland wilderness"

2.

HISTORICAL

kill one in every ten of (a group of soldiers or others) as a punishment for the whole group.

From Oxford

It appears we are both correct. You with no.2 and I with no. 1.